Cleaning implements



H. KRAMER Feb. 13, 19 8 CLEANING IMPLEMENTS Filed March 24, 1966 United States Patent 3,368,230 CLEANING IMPLEMENTS Hyman Kramer, 2764 E. 16th St., Brooklyn, NY. 11235 Filed Mar. 24, 1966, Ser. No. 537,157 9 Claims. (Cl. 15-105) This invention relates to cleaning implements, and more particularly to improvements in cleaning implements of the type for use in cleaning windows, floor and wall surfaces, automobile Windshields and windows, etc.

Among the objects of this invention may be noted the provision of a cleaning implement of novel construction and design lending itself to a variety of cleaning functions; the provision of a hand-type cleaning implement characterized by a novel one-piece head which serves both to mount plural different-purpose cleaning elements (or a single element in the case of certain types of cleaning element) and to provide attaching means for the handle by which the implement is normally operated; the provision of a hand-operated type of cleaning implement incorporating a head member which is so constructed and arranged as to make possible the simple attachment thereto and detachment therefrom of the handle and one or more cleaning elements best suited to a particular cleaning operation, thus making it possible to sell the head, handle and a plurality of individual cleaning elements in kit form; and the provision of a cleaning implement suited to a variety of home and professional cleaning uses, which is characterized by simple design lending itself to economical manufacture and which is thoroughly dependable in its operation.

The above and other objects and features of construction and advantage according to the present invention will be seen from the following detailed description thereof, in which reference is bad to the accompanying illustrative drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a broken-away perspective view illustrating a hand-type cleaning implement of the invention mounting plural, different-purpose cleaning elements and further illustrating the one-piece construction of the implement head which represents a major aspect of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a section taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 4 and 5 are sections taken on a line corresponding to that on which FIG. 2 is taken, but illustrating different forms of cleaning elements mounted to the implement head, said views in conjunction with FIG. 1 being intended to illustrate the versatility of the head in mounting selected ones of a plurality of elements serving different cleaning functions.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the cleaning implement illustrated in FIGS. l-3 is shown to mount plural (two) cleaning elements and thus comprises in all but four separate parts, namely, an implement head 10, a handle 12, and the plural cleaning elements having the form of cleaning blades 14 and 16. Of the latter, the blade 14 as shown is intended to represent a rubber squeegee or wiper-type blade and the blade 16 is intended to represent a plastic scraper blade of the general type used to scrape ice and snow from automobile Windshields and rear windows, for example.

It is a special feature of the invention that the aforesaid implement head is of one-piece construction capable of being stamped complete from a rectangular sheet of metal without any appreciable scrap, and further that it is characterized by .T-configuration when viewed in front elevation; that is to say, it comprises a cross-bar portion and a centrally disposed stem portion depending at a right angle therefrom. However, as is clearly shown in FIG.

1, rather than said cross-bar and stem portions being of solid bar section, said cross-bar portion is defined by elongate, spaced-apart wings designated 20, 22 which extend integrally from and are connected by a shorterlength, fiat, centrally disposed web 24, and said stem portion is defined by two spaced-apart legs 26. 28 which initially were straightway continuations of said web and integral with the wings but which in fabrication of the head were cut away from said wings and bent away from the web along lines of bend a and b defining the ends of the web by an angle of approximately thereto.

The aforesaid wings 20, 22 may extend from the web 24 at a slightly divergent angle with respect to one another, as in FIG. 2, whereas the aforesaid stem-defining legs 26, 28 are shaped to extend along oppositely facing arcs of the same general radius as that of the handle, thus to define a socket for the reception of the handle element 12.

If desired, the arcuate socket-defining legs 26, 28 may beshaped to have slightly lesser radius near their end portions adjacent the web 24 from which they extend than that of the handle end to be received therebetween, and thereafter to flare outwardly away from one another by a small amount. Such arrangement provides not only for ready insertion of the handle end into the larger end of the socket defined by said legs, 26, 28, but also that, upon full insertion of the handle end into said socket and its final securement as by tightening a wing nut (not shown) on a screw 30 (FIG. 2) extending between the aligned holes 26a, 28a provided therefor in said legs and through the socketed end of the handle, the ends of the legs adjacent the web 24 will firmly grip the handle-end portion received therebetween. Such makes possible the secure attachment of the handle 12 to the head 10 through the use of but a single securing screw.

Should the handle 12 be of the hollow or tubular type, the stem-defining legs 26, 28 may be formed along arcs of radius slightly less than that of the handle bore so as to be receivable therein, in which case the end of the tubular handle provides the socket.

At least the outer faces, and preferably also the inner faces of the wings 20, 22 provided by a head 10 con structed as aforesaid, are formed flat throughout their length so that correspondingly plane-surfaced cleaning elements, such as the aforementioed cleaning blades 14 and 16, may be secured flush thereto. By reference to FIG. 1, it will be seen that said cleaning blades are each formed longer than the wing mounting same and that each is also so positioned with respect to its wing that its end and surface cleaning edge, the latter being the longitudinal edge of the blades remote from the handle, overhangs the corresponding edges of the wing, as insures against the surface to be cleaned being engaged and possibly scratched by the edges of the metal wings.

According to a further feature of the invention, the aforesaid cleaning blades 14, 16 are secured to the wings 20, 22 of the head by quick-detachable means which permits them to be bodily removed from the head when another or other type of cleaning elements are to be substituted or when the blades need replacement. For this purpose, the cleaning blades 14, 16 are provided with spacedapart, integral attaching studs 32a, 32b and 34a, 34b, respectively, disposed to project from their inner faces which are to engage flush against the corresponding outer faces of the wings, and said wings are provided at their ends with corresponding holes (see hole 36, FIG. 3) adapted to receive said studs.

Illustratively, said studs 32a, 32b and 34a, 34b are button-shaped and they have an effective diameter slightly greater than that of the holes 36 in the wings. HoW- ever, the material of these studs is such as to permit the studs to deform to the diameter of said holes when they are being pushed through same and to return to their initial unstressed state when fully inserted, in which state they serve to secure the cleaning blades in place on the wings.

Instead of the aforesaid securing studs being formed integral with the cleaning elements, they may of course be formed separately therefrom. For example, they may be formed from spring metal and thereupon permanently affixed to the blades carrying same by way of the known affixing means or procedures employed to aifix the metal studs of stud-and-socket type separable fasteners to the material of the article or member which carries said studs. Also, the material of the wings 20, 22 which extend about the holes 36 therein which receive said studs may be modified as by slitting same radially-outwardly from the holes as renders the material bounding the holes very flexible, as insures ready insertion of the studs therethrough.

An implement head 12 according to the invention is characterized by its ability to mount cleaning elements and shapes and forms other than those of the aforesaid squeegee and scraper blades 14, 16. More particularly, FIG. 4 illustrates the capability of the head of the invention to mount a pad-type cleaning element, for example, a rectangular pad of sponge rubber generally designated 40 having width at least as great as the length of the wings and length enabling its end-edge portions to be secured, flush against the outer faces of the wings 20, 22, as disposes the intermediate length or body portion of the pad as a hood or covering extending over the wing edges and across the space between the wings. Illustratively, a sponge-rubber pad corresponding to that designated 40 may be secured against the outer faces of the wings along its opposite end-edge portions as aforesaid by metal straps 42a, 42b which are placed to overlie said end portions and which carry at their opposite ends studs designated 44 which are adapted to be projected through preformed holes provided in the sponge rubber pad and thence through the registering holes 36 provided in the wings. The resulting implement may be used in Washing windows or like surfaces or it may be employed as a floor mop or to apply floor-wax, for example.

FIG. 5 illustrates the capability of the head of the invention to mount yet another form of cleaning element, i.e. one having the form of a sponge rubber block designated 50. Such a cleaning element is adapted to be compressed along its one edge-portion into the space between the wings 20, 22 and held in place therein preferably by metal stud-like fasteners designated 52a, 52b which are formed with long points, which enables the fasteners to penetrate a substantial distance into the compressed edge portion of the sponge rubber block 50, and thereby effectively secure it to the head 10. The resulting cleaning implement may be used much as the form thereof shown in FIG. 4, namely, to wash windows and fioo surfaces, for example.

By virtue of the ability of the implement head 10 to mount a number of different shapes and types of cleaning elements, the head lends itself to being sold as a part of a kit comprising said head 10, the handle 12, and the variety of cleaning elements as described, together with the attaching means therefor if nonintegral with the elements, and printed instructions to the purchaser as to the method of assembly of the implement, depending on the particular type of cleaning element to be used for a particular cleaning operation or job.

Without further analysis, it will be appreciated that a cleaning implement of the invention characterized by a one-piece sheet-metal head capable of detachably mounting thereto a variety of types and forms of separate cleaning elements, by which the uses of the implement may be extended substantially as compared to cleaning implements having fixed-type cleaning elements, achieves the objectives of the invention as set forth in effective, practical and thoroughly dependable manner. However, as many changes could be made in carrying out the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A cleaning implement of the character described comprising, in combination: a T-shaped head member; at least one cleaning element carried by the cross bar portion of said head member; and a handle aflixed to and extending from the vertical leg portion of said head member; the head member being of one-piece construction and the cross-bar portion thereof comprising a pair of generally parallel, spaced-apart, flat-faced, elongate wings extending integrally from and being connected to one another at their middle-length portions by a shorter length, flat, connecting web, and the vertical leg portion of said head member comprising a pair of spaced-apart legs integral with and each depending substantially at a right angle from an end of said web, the free ends of said legs being shaped to and connected to said handle.

2. A cleaning implement according to claim 1, wherein said cleaning element is secured against the fiat face of at least one of said wings.

3. A cleaning implement according to claim 1, wherein a cleaning element is secured flush against the outer flat face of each of said wings.

4. A cleaning implement according to claim 3, wherein one cleaning element comprises a blade of relatively soft rubber and the other cleaning element comprises a blade of relatively hard plastic.

5. A cleaning implement according to claim 1, wherein said cleaning element comprises a pad of relatively soft cleaning material having its ends secured against the outer flat faces of said wings and its middle length portion extending between said wings.

6. A cleaning implement according to claim 1, wherein said cleaning element comprises a block-like mass of cleaning material having one end-edge portion held in compression between said wings and its opposite end-edge portion extending beyond said wings.

7. A cleaning implement according to claim 2, wherein said cleaning element and said wing carrying same are each provided with complemental means for detachably securing said cleaning element in proper position to said wing.

8. A cleaning implement according to claim 4, wherein said cleaning blades and the wings carrying same are each provided with complemental means for detachably securing said blades to said wings.

9. A cleaning implement according to claim 1, wherein said head member, cleaning element and handle incorporate means providing detachable connections between the cleaning element and the head and between the handle and the head, respectively.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,148,210 7/1915 Bruce 306-31 2,796,011 6/ 1957 Schmidt 29452 FOREIGN PATENTS 880,740 1/ 1943 France. 413.539 5/1946 Italy.

DANIEL BLUM, Primary Examiner. 

1. A CLEANING IMPLEMENT OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION: T-SHAPED HEAD CHAMBER; AT LEAST ONE CLEANING ELEMENT CARRIED BY THE CROSS BAR PORTION OF SAID HEAD MEMBER; AND A HANDLE AFFIXED TO AND EXTENDING FROM THE VERTICAL LEG PORTION OF SAID HEAD MEMBER; THE HEAD MEMBER BEING OF ONE-PIECE CONSTRUCTION AND THE CROSS-BAR PORTION THEREOF COMPRISING A PAIR OF GENERALLY PARALLEL, SPACED-APART, FLAT-FACED, ELONGATE WINGS EXTENDING INTEGRALLY FROM AND BEING CONNECTED TO ONE ANOTHER AT THEIR MIDDLE-LENGTH PORTIONS BY A SHORTER LENGTH, FLAT, CONNECTING WEB, AND THE VERTICAL LEG PORTION OF SAID HEAD MEMBER COMPRISING A PAIR OF SPACED-APART LEGS INTEGRAL WITH AND EACH DEPENDING SUBSTANTIALLY AT A RIGHT ANGLE FROM AN END OF SAID WEB, THE FREE ENDS OF SAID LEGS BEING SHAPED TO AND CONNECTED TO SAID HANDLE. 